Medical marijuana clears Assembly health committee

The Associated PressYoung marijuana plants grow in Seattle for a cooperative that distributes marijuana to patients who have received doctor’s authorization to use it to treat their illnesses, such as AIDS and multiple sclerosis.
Syracuse, N.Y. — The state Assembly Committee on Health has passed a bill that would legalize the use of marijuana by patients suffering from life-threatening medical conditions.

The committee approved the bill Tuesday, one day after the New Jersey Legislature legalized medically prescribed marijuana. An identical bill is pending in the Senate health committee. Fourteen states have laws allowing medical use of marijuana.

The Assembly passed medical marijuana legislation in 2007 and 2008, but the measure died in the Senate. A Senate medical marijuana bill passed the Senate Health Committee for the first time last year, but progress was derailed by the Senate leadership struggle.

New York’s bill requires patients to have a doctor or licensed prescriber certify their need for marijuana for treatment of a statutorily defined “serious medical condition.” Patients would have to get a registration card from the state Health Department. Possession would be limited to 2 ½ ounces.